James Cameron's blockbuster "Avatar" is involved in a lawsuit in which a man claims that he helped develop the idea for the highest-grossing domestic picture to date, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In a complaint filed Thursday, Eric Ryder alleges that a story he worked on for two years with the production company went on to become "Avatar" and that he's been shut out of the success.

Ryder claims he worked on a treatment called "K.R.Z. 2068," a science fiction story that, after being presented to Lightstorm Entertainment, was to be turned into an "environmentally themed 3-D epic about a corporation's colonization and plundering of a distant moon's lush and wondrous natural setting."

The complaint also alleges that the story included "anthropomorphic, organically created beings that populated the moon," a "corporation spy," and "self-contained robotic exterior suits which house a single human operator."

Ryder says he worked with the production company to further develop components for the film project, including 3-D imagery. The complaint alleges that "after some two years of enthusiastically working with Mr. Ryder on the film's development," the production company allegedly said that the movie wouldn't work because "no one would be interested in an environmentally themed science fiction film."

Ryder alleges that he entered into an "implied agreement" that he'd be compensated and credited for the material should the company "use or exploit any of the material" that Ryder claims he had a hand in.

Of course, the 2009 production of "Avatar" was not only a critical hit but a commercial one, having earned $760 million domestically at the box office.

I thought Avatar ripped off Dances with Wolves. Think about that one. But here is my idea for the sequel. The Earthers return and bomb the nature loving natives from space. Then they move in and start exploiting the natural resources. You heard it hear first.

Sounds like this guy stole JC's idea and is now trying to sue JC for his own idea. This is a classic psychopath script here. Psychopaths routinely steal the work of others and claim its their own. I doubt this case will get very far.

This guy is just dumb. If he sues, his case will wind down to whether or not his story was "original" and Avatar was an "exact replica of his STORY." Bits and pieces, like the "robots" part is a poor argument.
Or better yet: His "anthropomorphic, organically created beings that populated the moon" do not, in actuality, "populate" Pandora. They are, in simple terms, used to "study" the Na'vi. On top of that, his idea of "anthropomorphic, organically created beings" is not an original idea at all. If this guy played a big role as he claims in production, then he'd be handing over more specifics and evidence than he is stating.
But to make a case, "Story" can be defined by referring to both James Cameron's original writeup and final script to Avatar. The case can't be made by what's seen on the screen, but by what is written in the script.

Just reading the headline, I was sure this lawsuit was going to be from the "Dances with Wolves" production team. It was a pretty movie, but they really needed a more original story to make it a good movie. It will not stand the test of time as Star Wars or Lord of the Rings have.

Try Fern Gully...they ripped the whole "nature can feel pain and is apart of all life" theme from them. All they did was move it to another panet in the future. Oh, but it was a great movie–and I enjoyed it thoroughly

Could not agree more. My kids were little when Ferngully came out. I've watched it 1000 times. The similarities are ridiculous. Avatar completely ripped off Ferngully. They should have just named the characters Zach, Christa and Madgie Loon.